Bird’s-nest Orchid in Ashdown Forest
Two spikes of this rather beige plant are now visible at the known site on Ashdown Forest. Both its common and scientific names refer to the supposedly nest-like appearance of the roots.[1] Though xanthophyll and chlorophyll a have been reported in it (but not chlorophyll b), it is a plant species that does not photosynthesise, instead gaining its energy as a result of a myco-heterotrophic relationship with mycorrhizal fungi in the soil,[2] which are in the family Sebacinaceae.[3]
Given the binomial Ophrys nidus-avis by Linnaeus, it was given its current preferred name Neottia nidus-avis by the French botanist Louis Claude Richard (1754-1821), the author of De Orchideis europaeis (1817).[4]
[1] See image in “Neottia Nidus-avis – Bird’s Nest Orchid.” Loire Valley Nature (blog), August 2008. Accessed May 27, 2016. http://loirenature.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/scientific-name-english-name-french_9914.html.
[2] Arditti, Joseph. “Aspects of the Physiology of Orchids.” Advances in Botanical Research 7 (1980): 421-655. doi:10.1016/s0065-2296(08)60091-9.
[3] Selosse, Marc-Andre, Michael Weiss, Jean-Luc Jany, and Annie Tillier. “Communities and Populations of Sebacinoid Basidiomycetes Associated with the Achlorophyllous Orchid Neottia Nidus-avis (L.) L.C.M. Rich. and Neighbouring Tree Ectomycorrhizae.” Molecular Ecology 11, no. 9 (2002): 1831-844. doi:10.1046/j.1365-294x.2002.01553.x.
[4] “Louis Claude Richard.” Wikipedia. Accessed May 27, 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Claude_Richard.
2 comments
By coincidence Linda and I made another visit to the small population of Neottia nidus-avis (Bird’s-nest Orchid) at Ranmore Common in Surrey today to check on their progress and take more photographs. A few of the lower flowers have opened.
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